UH law school excels in national rankings

The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has once again been nationally recognized for its focus on racial justice and personalized learning environment. In the Fall 2024 issue of The National Jurist’s preLaw magazine, Richardson Law was given an “A” rating in racial justice and ranked No. 11 in the United States for student-faculty ratio. 

The mission of the William S. Richardson School of Law is to be a collaborative, multicultural community that prepares students for excellence in careers that advance justice and the rule of law. With programs like Native Hawaiian law and Pacific-Asian Legal Studies, the law school is consistently acknowledged for its commitment to social justice.

As to the feature on small student-faculty ratios, the issue explained how this ratio can make a huge difference in students’ experiences. The National Jurist reached out to gather insight into how this is benefitting our students here at Hawaiʻi’s law school.

“A smaller class allows a professor to have eye contact with each student and read their body language to gain awareness of how the students’ learning is proceeding,” said Nicholas Mirkay, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and UH law professor. “It allows the classroom discussion to go in different directions, and that brings a sense of what is of interest to the students.”

These new recognitions add to the UH law school’s recent rankings:

  • “A” rating for Environmental Law, preLaw magazine 2024
  • “B+” rating for practical training, preLaw magazine 2024
  • No. 4 for most chosen by older students, The Princeton Review 2024
  • No. 5 for most diverse faculty, The Princeton Review 2024
  • No. 6 for best state and local clerkships, The Princeton Review 2024
  • No. 23 for best part-time programs, U.S. News & World Report 2024
  • No. 23 for best Environmental Law programs, U.S. News & World Report 2024